Thousands of pictures taken a year after Japan's devastating quake and tsunami have gone online, as a local university tries to preserve memories of the disaster—and show the resilience of survivors—for future generations.
Thousands of pictures taken a year after Japan's devastating quake and tsunami have gone online, as a local university tries to preserve memories of the disaster—and show the resilience of survivors—for future generations.The 13,760 images show the disaster zone some 12 months after the fact, along with the cleanup and how residents are going about their lives.Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science has launched a special website for the archive, which it hopes will attract viewers around the world. (Working jointly with the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the institute employs field workers to take pictures, record interviews and collect other records of the disaster as part of an ongoing project.The photographs include some donated by local residents. All were taken in February and March 2012, in 15 coastal municipalities.Tohoku University is based in Sendai, a city that itself suffered significant damage from both the quake and tsunami.Institute officials said they aim to show the wider region and how it has recovered.